Mahathir dares MACC – probe how much I 'stole' from govt
Published on: Thursday, May 07, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rebutted claims equating current financial problems in 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) with financial scandals during his administration, namely the Bank Bumiputera case in the 1980s.The country's longest serving prime minister said the difference with him was that he was never advisor to the bank, unlike Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is Chairman of 1MDB's advisory board."I don't steal money. The money was missing and it is the bank's money. I was not the manager of the bank, neither was I its advisor," Dr Mahathir told reporters after an event at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.
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He was asked to comment on a newspaper column in the Umno-controlled New Straits Time, where Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim had noted that Dr Mahathir also had financial scandals during his administration.Tunku Abdul Aziz, who is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory board chairman, wrote in his column on May 4 that compared to the time under Dr Mahathir's rule, there was more transparency now which would enable Malaysia to uncover and resolve scandals involving 1MDB."We will, in our current climate of openness, get a lot faster to the bottom of 1MDB's shortcomings, if indeed there are problems, than we got out of the investigations into financial and other excesses during the lost ethical years when Dr Mahathir was prime minister," wrote Tunku Abdul Aziz."Soon after Dr Mahathir took over the reins of government, a horrendous financial scandal engulfed Bank Bumiputera Berhad, incorporated in 1978 as the vehicle to launch the Malays into business," he added.
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The bank had shifted large sums to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bumiputera Malaysia Finance Limited (BMF), which lent nearly US$1 billion to a company called Plessey Investment and another called Carrian Investment Limited. Carrian later went bankrupt and "billions disappeared into thin air," Tunku Abdul Aziz wrote.
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He said a committee set up in Malaysia to investigate the scandal recommended that criminal proceedings be taken against those involved, but no action took place in Malaysia. Najib, however, had ordered the Auditor General to probe 1MDB, which is owned by the government, Tunku Abdul Aziz added. But Dr Mahathir said that he should not be blamed as he had not caused anyone to lose money."You don't mean that when others lose money, it is my fault," he said.He told Tunku Abdul Aziz to use his role as MACC Advisory Board Chairman to determine if he had misappropriated federal funds during his 22 years as Prime Minister. He said Tunku Abdul Aziz should apologise if no evidence is found against him."As a member of the MACC, he can make a full investigation of my record to find out how many billions I stole from the government as he seems to imply. If he fails, he should at least have the decency to apologise," he wrote in his blog chedet.cc.He also questioned if Tunku Abdul Aziz's attempt to "accuse" him of being involved in the BMF scandal on a "flimsy ground" was ethical.Nearly US$1 billion (which was equivalent to RM2.4 billion at the time) was lent by Bank Bumiputra to two investment companies via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bumiputera Malaysia Finance Limited (BMF), with one of the companies going bankrupt.Dr Mahathir took jibes at Tunku Abdul Aziz, asking the latter if he had "selective awareness on what's going on around him"."As someone who professes to be concerned about corruption, shouldn't he ask how Jho Low and Riza Aziz have hundreds of millions of dollars?" Dr Mahathir wrote, referring to the controversial businessman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's stepson, respectively."Shouldn't he be interested in public servants who are living well beyond their means?" he asked.Dr Mahathir also denied doing anything to help his two sons' business ventures when he was Prime Minister. He said his sons had to "borrow millions" to get their businesses off the ground and claimed that they are "not billionaires"."Mirzan, does most of his business outside Malaysia but was forced to sell his shipping business to Petronas during the financial crisis," he said, referring to his eldest son."Petronas made a handsome profit selling part of the fleet when the economy recovered. Petronas policy is not to answer questions but Petronas accounts are available and can be examined to verify whether I lie or not. Mirzan is not (a) millionaire," he added.Dr Mahathir said it was only after he stepped down as prime minister that his second son, Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, started his steel fabrication business and had to slog for over three years to earn his wealth.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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